


A Diplomatic Mission and Its Results

by ConvenientAlias



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Multi, Polyshipping Day, Pre-OT3, but a bit late
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 18:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16859104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/pseuds/ConvenientAlias
Summary: Sokka and Suki, emissaries of the Avatar, are seeking out an excellent earthbender to teach the Avatar earthbending. Toph is interested.





	A Diplomatic Mission and Its Results

Toph has first impressions of Sokka and Suki whole days before she meets them. First, the servants in the manor gossiping with each other. They say the Avatar’s emissaries to the town are very impressive. They say the woman is tall and muscular, and wears ritual makeup from her own island whenever she meets with officials. (Some of them say this is a pity because she looks prettier without it, which makes Toph snort—aren’t people supposed to prettier with makeup? Sighted people can be so inconsistent.) They say the man (who is hardly more than a boy) is a Water Tribe warrior but does not act so warlike as the woman, and is often talkative except for when in official meetings. The younger servants say both are very attractive.

This would not impress Toph much—all very good, but she’s more interested in how companions of the Avatar would do in a fight, she’s heard interesting things there—but, then there is her second impression, which comes from her parents.

Her parents don’t like them much.

“They say even a couple years ago, the Avatar used to travel among his people himself,” her father says over dinner. “Certainly the fact that he now sends emissaries even when he’s looking for an earthbending teacher says something about how he views the Earth Kingdom.”

Her mother flaps a hand. Toph can feel the breeze of her sleeve. “Oh, maybe we expect too much. In the old days, the Avatars didn’t always travel everywhere. And it’s all politics. Besides, they say the Avatar is trying to learn waterbending just now.”

Her father hmphs and says earthbending is a much more practical focus than waterbending for war, and war is where they’re at, isn’t it? Toph eases a toe out of her shoes—she’s never understood why they want her to wear shoes inside, it’s hardly even polite—and taps it against the ground, which rumbles quietly in agreement. Earth is solidity, but it is also strong for battle.

She wonders what the emissaries think of that. But then, Suki, the woman, is from the Earth Kingdom herself. So she probably already knows.

Interesting that one of the Avatar’s favored companions is a woman. Interesting.

* * *

 

Sokka’s first impression of Toph is that she’s a brat.

Well, technically, he first hears about her from the Bei Fong household, when he visits and they tell him their daughter can’t make it to dinner because she’s sick. But he only really meets her when he is walking in the garden afterwards, talking to the master of the house, and a pebble pings against his head.

He swivels, and sees a girl sitting on a bench with her head down. He turns back—his host is still talking—and he’s hit with a rock again, this time a larger one against his leg.

The girl has looked up and there is a small, smug smile on her lips. She is not as young as he had thought at first. At least she is in her late teens, and she is a brat.

But there’s a hand on his elbow. Bei Fong says, “You see my daughter, then.”

“That’s your daughter? I thought she was sick.”

“She was. She should not be outside. She is very fragile.” Bei Fong hurries over to her. “Toph…”

“Is this the diplomat Sokka?” Toph asks in a quiet voice. She stands slowly, and puts out a hand even though Sokka is not close yet. But when he takes it, her grip is iron. Sokka gasps and tries to pull away, and she lets him after a moment. The smile has grown.

She does not meet his eyes. Bei Fong says, “Excuse my daughter her rudeness. She is blind, and cannot help it. But we’re honored that you two have met each other.”

“Yeah, it’s great. Can you tell me about what it’s like traveling with the Avatar?” Despite Toph’s ironic smile, she seems actually interested now. “What kinds of battles have you been in?”

“Toph. This is conversation not suited for a lady. It will only overexcite you.” Bei Fong folds his arms. “You should head in.”

She does so reluctantly.

“But,” Sokka tells Suki later, “I swear she bent rocks at me twice. Her father said she wasn’t an earthbender but…and how did she even know where to send them? She couldn’t see me!”

Suki shrugs. Her day has been less productive than his, wandering the town and listening for rumors of good earthbenders around here. Aang dreamed that this would be the town where his teacher would be found, but they’ve had no luck so far. She _has_ heard of an underground fighting ring, and intends to check it out tonight. Somewhat promising.

“And she looked so _smug_!”

“Noblewomen are like that sometimes,” Suki says.

“But, but…”

Suki touches Sokka’s shoulder. “Maybe you can introduce me sometime. But for now, we need to focus on our goal.”

But he looks so cute when he’s frustrated, and she can’t help but kiss him, and for an hour or so she completely forgets their mission as well.

* * *

 

When Suki sees Toph, she doesn’t connect her with Sokka’s story of a bratty noble girl until Sokka mutters in her ear. There would be no reason to make the leap, after all—Toph in the ring is smug, yes, but so are all the fighters, and her calm efficiency doesn’t scream “fragile young lady” even if she’s blind.

“Hm,” Suki says, “I guess you were right about her bending.” She shakes her head. “This place is so patriarchal in how it treats its girls, honestly. And look, even here the girls can—”

They get distracted by the boom of another fighter making a crater against the floor of the ring.

“But she’s good, right?”

Suki nods.

“Maybe,” Sokka says, “maybe she’s the one Aang dreamed about. I mean, she’s better than anyone else we’ve seen. And his first teacher was Katara—we don’t necessarily need someone old.”

By his facial expression, Sokka would like this to be the truth. She raises her eyebrows. “You like her?”

She means it innocently—she’s just surprised that he’s this interested in someone he was complaining about earlier—but to her shock, he blushes.

She frowns a little but can’t take it too seriously. Toph has to be what, eighteen? They’re both more than twenty. Sokka can have his little crushes; he always does. But is Toph really meant to teach the Avatar? Sure, she can fight in the ring, but everyone knows these matches are mostly staged. Doesn’t make her an earthbending master just because she can put on a show.

So when the announcer calls out for challengers, Suki gets up and heads down into the ring, calling out her name as she goes.

The announcer is gleeful. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AGES, ANOTHER WOMAN DARES TO CHALLENGE FOR THE BLIND BANDIT’S THRONE! A KYOSHI WARRIOR AND OUR SCRAPPY CHAMPION! A GENUIIIIIIINE _CATFIGHT_!”

The boulder he is standing on jostles a little bit, and Suki sees Toph sticking out her tongue. Nervously the announcer clears his throat and counts down. The match begins.

Distantly, Suki can hear Sokka cheering from the stands. …he’s cheering for the Blind Bandit, which makes her roll her eyes. But she has to focus. Because Toph is good. Suki’s fought earthbenders before. She’s used to how it feels to have shelves of rock slam against her. She knows how to pivot away from the force and redirect it, when to just accept the pain and catch her breath. So she’s not wowed by Toph’s first attacks. But as the second tick by and she can’t get within the right distance to even touch Toph, she’s starting to get there. Toph really is good. If Suki can’t figure out a way to counter soon, she’s going down.

The one thing that seems to be confusing Toph is the fans. Suki hasn’t been able to hit her with one yet, but the swishing they make as she blocks, parries and dodges sends wind at Toph’s face and makes a lot of noise. Every time she flaps a fan particularly loudly, Toph scowls a bit harder.

She’s finding Suki harder to beat than she’d like, maybe. Though, beneath it all, Suki thinks she’s still enjoying it. As Suki is, too. She’s always liked a good spar. Keeps you in form for when the real fighting comes.

But she can’t break through…an idea forms. As she thrusts the fan forward in one spin, she releases it. It goes flying at a slight curve and, just as Suki planned, hits Toph in the face.

She’s seeing through the ground. A flying object? Too unpredictable.

Toph only flinches for a moment, but Suki is on her. Before a wall of earth can block her out, she’s within arm’s reach. Toph barely blocks a strike heading towards her side. Suki hooks her leg and knocks her to the ground, and is about to deliver a kick when the ground underneath her bucks and sends her down too. But when she falls, the ground envelops her, and she’s pinned, stone fastening her wrists and ankles.

Toph rises and brushes her clothes off. She pants and stands over Suki with a smile. “Nice try, fan-fingers. But not good enough.”

Suki stares up at her. Sweat has her clothes sticking to her here and there—she’s exerted herself now more than in the previous matches. She is vicious in victory, not exactly a gracious winner, but while it would usually tick her off, right now she feels…

Meanwhile, the announcer is having a ball. “AAAAND THE BLIND BANDIT HAS THE KYOSHI WARRIOR AT HER MERCY! But…she pauses to chat? This is NOT THE _TIME_ FOR _CONVERSATION_! KICK THAT GIRL OUT OF THE RING, BLIND BANDIT!”

A chant starts in the crowd. “Kick her OUT, kick her OUT!”

Toph laughs, throwing her head back. “I love you guys! Okay, I’ll give you what you want!” She thrusts her arms and the earth moves around Suki and sends her flying out of the ring. She’s left, the wind knocked out of her, up against the wall.

The crowd goes wild. Suki hopes Sokka isn’t cheering with them, but has a sneaking suspicion that he is.

* * *

 

Toph has found her encounters with the Avatar’s companions satisfying. Sure, she would have liked to chat about their adventures and travels. But she also really likes winning, and she’s succeeded at pissing both of them off. That’s good enough, she thinks.

Until she finds out they’ve requested an official meeting with her through her parents.

Her parents are nervous. They dress her up, make sure her hair is nice and her face is painted. She assumes it all looks good, though it’s not entirely comfortable. Galling to be seen like this by Suki, though. Sokka’s already seen it—and seen past it—but to have Suki see her looking like a doll instead of a warrior…well, there’s nothing she can do about it, anyway. She’ll let it lie.

She expects them to be angry. Instead, the moment she enters the room, Sokka blurts out, “So, do you wanna travel with the Avatar?”

“Hell yeah.” The words come out automatically. But her parents gasp and she bites her lip. “I mean, what do you mean? Me? The Avatar? Makes no sense.”

“You’re an amazing earthbender,” Suki says. “We’d be honored to have you come and teach the Avatar.”

Her parents start making her excuses: Surely there must be some misunderstanding, Toph can’t bend more than a pebble.

“Um, yeah she can,” Sokka says. “She’s a champion fighter! I saw her bend a boulder this big!” He throws his hands out. The boulder was bigger, but either way Toph’s parents are unconvinced.

Suki adds, “We are convinced her earthbending would be an asset. And she is better than you think.” A pause. “Perhaps we had better hear from her.”

Toph sighs.

She’s always followed her parents’ rules as much as she can. But this…this is her chance…

She bends the ground and pulls a pillar out of it under her own feet. “Mom, dad, I can bend very well. I’m actually even a pretty good fighter.” She hangs her head. “I’m sorry I lied to you but…”

But nothing.

Her parents don’t believe her.

Their final say on it is that Toph will not be traveling with the Avatar, and Sokka and Suki will not be allowed to visit the house again.

She bites her lip until she tastes blood. That night, she thinks it over. She quietly puts her things in a bag and creeps away. She knows the inn where the Avatar’s companions are staying—gossip has told her that much and more. Every dutiful instinct she possesses is screaming. But she thinks about the enthusiasm in Sokka’s voice over her bending (and yes, she heard him call her name at that match the other night, and yes, it made her heart quicken) and she thinks about how close Suki had come to hitting her, closer than anyone ever before, and she thinks about how they both _want_ her to _come_. How they both want _her_.

And she walks.

* * *

 

“So I may have actually run away,” Toph says.

Sokka chokes.

Suki says, “Well, honestly, understandable. I don’t mean to be insulting, but your town does not understand girls.”

Toph says, “Yeah. They suck.”

She misses her parents.

Suki must see it. She touches Toph’s back. “We’re honored you came with us, you know. And you’ll be very helpful to Aang.”

“I hope so.”

Sokka throws an arm over her shoulder. “Yeah, it’s gonna be great! Just wait until you meet everyone!”

Suki aggressively pulls Toph closer too. “Yeah. There are lots of girls in the group, and we can all fight. You’ll love it.”

They somehow end up squashed together like this, Sokka and Suki both squeezing at Toph almost hard enough to pull her away from each other. They’re kind of aggressive, but it’s nice. They don’t think she needs to be touched only gently.

She wonders how long it will take before they talk to her about the conversation she overheard last night, Suki quietly admitting that “Yeah, I guess she is kind of hot. Surprisingly tough for an eighteen-year-old”, and Sokka saying something about always being right. Maybe it’ll be a while. Maybe Toph will have to bring it up herself.

Well, if she’s going to be going on adventures, she might as well do whatever she wants. She’ll just have to think about how to approach it right, make it clear she isn’t trying to steal anyone’s partner. And then…

But for the moment she feels their bodies against hers, pushing away the fear of the unknown.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt of "suki/toph/sokka. prompt word: diplomacy :D". I personally think this story probably needs better Sokka and a stronger Tokka side, but oh well. Got no time for a nice long fill, so I hope it's still good enough.  
> Comments and kudos are very welcome!


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